


Through the Ages

by Anonymous



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon (90s anime)
Genre: 1990s, Canon - Anime, Crystal Tokyo Era, Gen, Manga Elements, Platonic Soulmates, Silver Millennium Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2017-06-03
Packaged: 2018-11-08 16:03:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11085069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Sailor Mars will be there when Usagi needs her the most.





	Through the Ages

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jungle_ride](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jungle_ride/gifts).



Princess Serenity was all giggles and smiled as she rushed through the castle on the surface of the moon. Everyone smiled and waved at her and the princess returned them all, acting less like a dignified princess and more like the girl that had won the hearts of all who met her. Her white skirts were clutched in her fists and her hair flowed behind her like a pair of twin rivers. She almost slipped going down the marble steps, so she stopped long enough to pull off her heels before continuing with her shows tucked under her arm. 

She was stopped at the palace gates by Sailor Mars. Her arms were crossed and she had a disapproving scowl on her face. Her critical eye ran up and down the princess’s body, taking in the hair that was now in disarray, the now dirty feet, the dress all wrinkled from running.

“Don’t get mad, Mars,” Serenity pleaded.

“You look horrible. The fortune teller isn’t going back to Neptune for days. There was no need for you to rush.” Sailor Mars let out a loud breath. “Put your shoes back on and sit on that bench.” Sailor Mars indicated a marble bench with one gloved hand. “I’ll fix your hair.”

Serenity grabbed Sailor Mars’s shoulder and used her friend to keep her balance as she put the white high heels back on her feet. Then, with surprising grace she moved to the bench and composed herself. The effect was completely ruined by the sad state of her appearance. Sailor Mars followed her princess before moving behind her. She produced a brush from a bag that she had been carrying. With slow, gentle hands she removed the pins holding Serenity’s hair in place, letting the hair cascade down the princess’ back like molten light. She took her time brushing her hair out and then redoing her hair.

“There, that’s a little better,” Sailor Mars said.

“Thank you, Mars. Is it just going to be the two of us?”

“Yes, Venus is overseeing the resupply of the outposts at the edge of the solar system. Jupiter is training the new recruits. Mercury is conducting an experiment at the university.”

Serenity giggled as she linked her arm through that of Sailor Mars. “Well, it will be just as fun with two of us as it would be with five.” 

They left the palace grounds together. Sailor Mars never went far from the side of her princess. The importance of Princess Serenity knowing the people she would rule first hand was considered worth the extra risk to her well-being, but she was still always supposed to have an escort when she left the palace. They talked about everything from flowers, to court fashion, to what was going on in various parts of the Silver Millennium. It was a good twenty minute walk to Hermes Promenade. 

As they approached it was easy to tell which tent belonged to the fortune teller. It was a lovely purple, and the front entrance was draped with a colorful cloth. The smell of incense wafted outside and invited potential customers inside.

“Madame, this is Princess Serenity and her escort, may we enter?” Sailor Mars respectfully asked from outside the entrance.

“You may both enter,” came the female voice from inside.

The light inside was low, allowing only the impression of shapes to be seen. At a circular table sat a woman. It was impossible to tell what she looked like other than that she was of average height. There were two chairs jutting out from the table, obviously intended for guests. Serenity rushed to sit down on one while Sailor Mars stood to her side, wary eyes constantly looking around for threats hidden in the shadows.

“I came to find out who my soulmate is,” Princess Serenity said. Her cheeks felt warm as she blushed once more. There was a particular man that her thoughts were on, a prince from Earth that she had encountered a few times. He had thoroughly captured her heart in the short time that they had known each other.

“Ah, a common question.” The woman rose from the table. She moved across the floor to a chest. Throwing open the lid, the woman began to rummage through it, not needing any extra light to see at all. When she returned to the table she carried a small silk bag. “Prepare these leaves as a tea and drink it tonight. Then the identity of your soulmate will be revealed to you.”

“Thank you, so much,” Princess Serenity gushed as she took the bag from the woman.

“Send your invoice to the palace and you will be fairly paid,” Sailor Mars said.

“But of course, I would never doubt the good name of the House of Serenity.”

 

“Usagi, are you sure that this is really wise?” Luna asked with a great deal of trepidation in her voice.

Tsukino Usagi had just put a kettle of water onto the stove to boil. Sitting on the counter was a Wedding Peach coffee mug and a small satchel of tea. Usagi was leaning against the counter staring at the kettle and waiting for it to boil the water inside.

“Of course this is a good idea. Why would the fortune teller lie to me?”

“To make money off of a naïve girl,” Luna suggested.

“It’s just tea,” Usagi said. “Even if it doesn’t show me who my soulmate is I’ll at least have a nice cup of tea to enjoy and I helped to support a local business. Besides, I already know that Mamoru is my destined soulmate.”

“If Mamoru is your destined soulmate then why do you need this tea to confirm it?”

“Because if it works for me then I can get more for the other girls and they can all find out who their soulmates are too. Then we can all go on double dates together.”

The kettle began to whistle as the water came to a boil. Usagi put her tea in her mug and then topped it off with the hot water. She had been told to drink it as soon as she added the water. If she delayed then the tea might not be potent enough. Usagi took a breath and then brought the mug to her lips, trying to drink everything before her mind registered the heat. She brought the mug back down to the counter as her eyes got a faraway look to them.

“Usagi?” Luna asked with concern in her voice as she took a step closer.

After thirty seconds of staring into space Usagi’s eyes snapped to Luna’s. There was a small frown on her face as her forehead creased the way it did when she was thinking about something troubling.

“I told you it wouldn’t work, Usagi.”

“It did work,” Usagi said softly.

“What’s wrong?”

“It didn’t show me Mamoru as my soulmate. It showed me Rei.”

Neo Queen Serenity had been in audience with ambassadors from Kinmoku when Sailor Venus burst into the audience chamber. She was breathing heavily from running and her face was a mask of worry and panic.

“Please, excuse me for one moment,” Serenity said to her guests. They quickly assured her that they didn’t mind waiting while she spoke to the leader of the Sailor Senshi. Serenity turned back to Venus, who’d taken the chance to compose herself, and said, “Venus, will you please come with me?”

“At once,” Venus said as she followed Serenity into a side room that was used as a diplomatic office for the Earth.

“Venus, what has happened? I haven’t seen you like this in years.”

“It’s Mars. She’s vanished. No one can find her.”

“Have you checked with Pluto?”

“I have. She said that she’s outside the periods of time when the Gates exist.”

“What does that mean?” Serenity didn’t like what she was hearing at all. She felt like her heart was going to stop but also race at the same time.

“It means that Mars is not in our world at any point in time between the creation of the Gates of Time and their destruction.”

“How? What exactly happened?”

“We were training and then one second Mars was there and the next she was gone.”

“Organize a search party. We can’t give up looking for her. Mobilize all of our Senshi and request help from our allies as well.”

“At once, Neo Queen Serenity,” Venus bowed before leaving.

Once Venus was out of sight Serenity let herself collapse against the wall. She couldn’t give up on Rei. She wouldn’t give up on Rei. Yet, at the same time she knew deep in the depths of her soul that Sailor Mars was gone. She hadn’t noticed the gnawing at the edges of her consciousness before since she had been busy, but now that Venus had drawn attention to it, Serenity couldn’t not notice it. 

All she wanted to do was go into her room, eat a box of donuts, and cry until Mars came back to scold her. Instead, Serenity composed herself and returned to the ambassadors to carry on the negotiations.

 

Sailor Cosmos was weak. Her body struggled to move. Yet still she stood. Even as Chaos threw attack after attack at her, Sailor Cosmos stood. So much had already been lost. Countless Sailor Crystals had been obliterated into dust. People that she had known and had been her allies in her lives as Usagi and Serenity would never be reborn again. Now, she was all alone. It was just her to defend what was left of the universe against the primordial evil. She knew that she’d fought her once before in another life, back when she’d been called Sailor Moon. When Chaos had possessed Sailor Galaxia she’d managed to defeat Chaos and save the other senshi’s life with an outstretched hand. Cosmos didn’t think an open hand was going to help her this time.

If only…

No, she didn’t have time for that. Sailor Cosmos grit her teeth and kept on fighting. Her own power clashed against that of Chaos. They stopped each other in a perfect balance of light and dark. Neither was able to get the upper hand over the other.

“I’m sorry, everybody,” Sailor Cosmos said. She had no one left to protect anyways. Here at the edge of the universe she was utterly alone and bereft of allies.

“You’re such a crybaby,” a voice that was so familiar yet had never been heard by the ears of Sailor Cosmos had spoken.

Cosmos turned her head as a Sailor Senshi dressed in red with flowing black hair took form by her side. There had not been another incarnation of Sailor Mars since she’d vanished from Crystal Tokyo on that day thousands of years ago. Cosmos had encountered reincarnations of every other Senshi that she’d fought alongside of when she’d been Sailor Moon, but never had she found Mars again.

“Sailor… Mars… You’ve come back,” Sailor Cosmos spoke in complete disbelief. 

“Of course, you’d just fall apart without me, Usagi.”

Sailor Cosmos couldn’t help but smile, “That’s not my name in this life.”

“Well, we can introduce ourselves after we take care of her,” Sailor Mars said. In her hands, fire began to gather which she directed at the shadowed form of Chaos. The power of Sailor Mars was small compared to that of Chaos and Cosmos, but it was just enough to break the stalemate between their powers. White and red light broke through the darkness, slamming into Chaos.

“Augh, this isn’t over Sailor Cosmos,” Chaos swore as she sprouted black and red bat-like wings and took to the sky.

As Sailor Cosmos watched her opponent leave the battlefield to lick her wounds she realized something. There had always been an aching, gnawing sensation at the edge of her consciousness. It had been there since the day she was born and was just something that she had thought was normal. That feeling was gone now.


End file.
